Ceasar Salad - so obsessed, full of parmesan, crisy lettuce and pay through the nose if you want chicken included;

Chicken Schnitzel - like its a national/state dish or something?

Gelato - well I can understand that one but there is something in every flavour under the sun, guava is a favourite;

Banana Bread - muffins are not the thing here (it is in Melbourne maybe)but banana bread is an absolute must. It is really a fat slice of banana loaf that is actually quite nice toasted!

P - platers - guaranteed that if you were one of the six cited above, it was a P-plater that did it (those on their restricted for the NZ readers);

Soy "anything" - very Newtown but probably Ponsonby as well these days so I shouldn't be so surprised;

But I so miss a decent oversized imported Ecuardorian banana! With the absolute rubbish of a season thanks to weather conditions in Queensland we are still paying around $12/kg for what can only described as dry, tasteless miniature bananas. As we do live in a socialist nation with protectionist policies beyond belief (gimme a braeburn please!) there was no way that we were going to get any bananas imported. Didn't see NZ do that over the bad avocado season last year did you?

I am still intrigued with Sydney and Australia in general - with temperatures climbing to the 30s these days (then plummeting to the teens) we have to be prepared for all weather conditions at the moment and the sunshine is hard to beat (or feel beaten by it when it hits 37 degrees!). It is also has to be the "gay-est" city in the southern hemisphere. Dating must be a quite difficult for women here. But the music is great, the clash of cultures mesmerising (we live in a Greek neighbourhood) and the constant stimulation - well quite stimulating!

There is an interesting prevalence of city councils in Sydney it is very possible to be nestled among 3 by walking around for 10 mins. Politics are intriguing with state governments placing television ads attacking Federal Govt policies on a regular basis (who is paying for that exactly?) I am yet to figure out who actually does any work in all these tiers but it is so reassuring to know that Anthony Mundine will be standing for the next local elections, he'll pack a punch! Badoom boom...

Anyway I'm back and the next instalments will no doubt be associated with the nightmare of wedding planning, job hunting and learning to speak Austrayyan.